New York City Issues Gender Binary Birth Certificate

New York City issued a birth certificate with the gender listed as “intersex.” The Department of Health and Mental Hygiene changed a birth certificate for Sara Kelly Keenan, who was born in Brooklyn 55 years ago, to express Kennan’s gender identity today.

“It was wonderful. It was the first time I saw ‘intersex’ in print related to my name…When I applied in court, I chose ‘non-binary,’ because that’s an umbrella term that would also include gender variant people,” said Keenan.

“A person may amend their birth certificate to have ‘intersex’ reflected on their birth certificate with appropriate documentary evidence from a US-licensed doctor,” said Julien A. Martinez, a spokesman for the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. “The department will continue to work with community partners as we adopt changes to more accurately reflect a person’s sex.” [CNN]